Pond-reared Malaysian prawn Macrobrachium rosenbergii with the biofloc system

• Water quality, survival and health were similar in both treatments but turbidity.
• Growth, protein and lipid content were higher in BT than CT.
• Biofloc and the use of mesh shade (90%) for intensive culture had beneficial impact.
• Biofloc technology reduced 1254.54% the water consumption in culture.

Physicochemical parameters of water and survival rate, growth, and body composition of the Malaysian prawn Macrobrachium rosenbergii were recorded and evaluated for six months in two nursery rearing systems: biofloc and traditional cultivation. The study was conducted in a shade house (300 m− 3, plastic mesh, 90% shade) in four rectangular ponds (20 m− 3). Stocking was at 37 prawns m− 2 (0.025 g− 1) and fed twice daily with a commercial diet. Daily temperature, dissolved oxygen, pH, NH3-N, NO3-N, NO2-N, and turbidity were recorded daily and the weight and length of the prawns were recorded each month. Water quality parameters were similar in both treatments, except transparency, which was significantly higher under traditional cultivation (36.10 ± 2.06 cm− 1) compared with the biofloc system (7.01 ± 1.52 cm− 1) at the end of the study. Survival rate was > 85% under both treatments, but final size was significantly higher in the biofloc system (11.54 ± 1.87 g− 1, 15.18 ± 8.27 cm− 1) than in the traditional system (10.67 ± 2.26 g− 1, 12.57 ± 7.89 cm− 1). Protein (51.19%) and lipid (13.84%) content in harvested prawns was significantly higher in the biofloc system, which we ascribe to the nutritional contribution of complementary food. The results strongly suggest that the biofloc nursery system is a profitable alternative for locations where climatic and water restrictions do not allow traditional prawn cultivation and also contributes to sustainable use of water and improved nutritional quality of the prawns.